The $12 level is higher than what had been approved in the Senate, but it doesn’t have the inflation adjustments sought by the House.

The sponsors of the competing proposals – Rep. Miguel Garcia, D-Albuquerque, and Sen. Clemente “Meme” Sanchez, D-Grants – announced the deal during a conference committee meeting called to help the two chambers resolve their differences.

“This was kind of a real tedious, hard-fought effort,” Garcia said as he announced the deal. “I think we have a pretty reasonable piece of legislation before us.”

It came after a day of negotiations that included Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who made raising the wage a critical piece of her campaign last year.

“The governor was happy to broker the compromise upstairs earlier today,” Lujan Grisham spokeswoman Nora Meyers Sackett said in a written statement. “Both Senator Sanchez and Representative Garcia came to the table willing to give a little, and that makes for a better near-term future for hardworking New Mexicans statewide. Twelve dollars will be a reality.”

The conference committee – made up of three lawmakers from each chamber – recommended approval of the deal on a 5-1 vote, with only Republican Rep. Tim Lewis of Rio Rancho opposed.

New Mexico’s statewide minimum wage is now $7.50 an hour. It hasn’t changed in a decade.

Under the proposal unveiled Thursday, the minimum wage would climb to $9 at the beginning of 2020, to $10.50 in 2021, $11.50 in 2022, and to $12 in 2023.

There would be no inflation adjustment after that.

A lower wage would be allowed for students with after-school or summer jobs – of $8.50 an hour, starting in 2020.

The minimum wage for tipped workers would also climb, eventually reaching $3 an hour in 2023.

The deal also stripped out a part of the bill that would have reimbursed state contractors for the increased minimum wage. Lawmakers said it wasn’t as critical given the phase-in schedule outlined in the new version of the proposal.